Videos of birds using bait to catch fish

Flying fishermen

Clever birds use bait to catch fish

It seems that I may need to rethink my use of the insult “bird-brained.”

If this collection of amazing videos is any indication, birds are actually a lot smarter than I’ve thought. That’s certainly the case when it comes to their fishing ability.

I mean, other than some kind of avian telepathy where all birds are tapped into a feathery hive-mind-type matrix, how is it that different species of birds in different parts of the world are all using bait to catch fish? Is this what birds do when they go on their migration, get together and share information at some kind of bird conference?